NY chicken lover!!!!

[Gramma Chick]

Got the materials, have a solid design in my head for everything but the run and the nest box. I'm gonna go with a community box, just not sure how big it needs to be for 18 hens. (hope I end up with 18, still not sure I don't have roo's).

Heres a link about coop sizing , etc
ooops heres the link
http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-much-coop-and-run-space-do-i-need.html

 

[horsekeeper]

Sounds like a Good Plan ..keep those babies safe
Your Duck hut is CUTE ! Your pond looks like mine . Our duckies just love mud ...They are always making mud in the shared water outside .
What is that little step made of ? do they use it ? I took 2 2 x 4 and put them around the pool...for them to have a boost up ...
They seem to ignore them

It's a little chunk of 4x4 left over from building a small deck last year. My daughter lives next door and we have all sorts of bits and pieces from projects. The duck hut cleaned things up quite a bit

The piece of 1/2 inch plywood used for the floor and the ends lived on my kitchen floor all winter so it wouldn't get ruined by the weather. The polycarbon roofing was for another project that got stalled and had to be moved over and over. My son-in-law brought home the pallets and tossed them next to the back door and they were being overgrown with weeds, so I decided to use some stuff up before I ended up with a junk pile of rotted lumber and warped plywood/siding pieces.

The other pallet is bigger and I think it will make a fine A-frame to grow out cockerels for the freezer. I plan to frame it out with 2x4s and cover it with cage wire to make it secure for nighttime lockup. I can take one of the tarps that was covering lumber to make a watertight roof.

Forgot to say that the smallest ducks couldn't quite get a foot up to the edge and used the wood to get a boost for a few days until they learned to just jump in. I have 2 older muscovies in with 4 rouen/mix and 5 littles. Last fall I gave away a bunch of bantams with a promise of ducklings in the spring and when I went to collect I got babies from two different hatches. The muscovies are hatched from my own flock.

 

[horsekeeper]

. I'm gonna go with a community box, just not sure how big it needs to be for 18 hens. (hope I end up with 18, still not sure I don't have roo's).

I built one for my flock that was 4 foot by 16" and it is plenty big for my flock of about 20 in that house, including ducks who use it. The only issues I have are the silkies use it for a sleeping box and now there are about five broodies in it. I let the silkies have it because they were so cold this past winter and it was like a little coop within a coop for them to snuggle in. My large coop is 8x12 with 8x8 sectioned off for the chickens. I built the nestbox in the human space with two cutouts for access and a hinged top so it was easy to open and check for eggs and do clean out. I still had room for a couple of metal garbage cans to store feed and keep a few tools like pitchfork and broom.

 

[Lapeerian]

Think little poopy butt is feeling better, not puffed up and stress peeping. Sitting in the middle of the food dish.

Turned the heat lamp off last night, hallway stays warm enough without and watched that they didn't react poorly. This means brooder eviction this weekend to the Eglu in the barn! The brooder was just cleaned the night before and they have trashed it already. Everyone survived the night with no heat, time to get out of the house.

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Morning all. Dreary humid day again. Had to change out the heat bulb to a 60 watt light bulb as the 2 tiny silky babies were all the way in the corner of the brooder. They are doing well and growing. The chipmunk one is showing some blue coloring so I am thinking its a blue partridge. It will be for sale when it gets bigger. Cute little thing. The older babies were milling around my hands this morning vying for some pets. The biggest one, a boy, likes to peck me a bit so that I will pet him. He has some of his fathers traits in him and I am liking his coloring. If he proves out like I am hoping, he will be my new roo. My mutt boys are finding their voices and they sound like beginning horn players. I have decided to go get those unwanted roos from my friend on sunday and butcher them myself to see how much meat is on them. I am getting antzy to process my roos but not too early as I want to have a decent weight on them for canning. Girls are still only giving me 10 eggs a day so I will have to go through and process the nonlayers as well. I think august is going to be a busy processing month!

Elroddo--sounds like you need to send that coon a lead message. If you have one hanging around, you need to trap it and kill it. Your birds will never be safe until it is gone.

Lap--glad to see the little poopy butt is feeling better. Sometimes animals just need some time and our attention to heal and right themselves. Hopefully it continues to get better.

Nice duck hut and run Horsekeeper! You keep on building. You can come down here and build if you run out of stuff to build up there!

Rancher---cool idea with those dresser drawers!

Off to another long day at the pharm. Its a holiday weekend so everyone will be in to refill their meds they ran out of last week and could you just call the dr for a refill because I really need it what do you mean they arent there but I need it now because I am going away........I love my job. I really do. Just not on holiday weekends.

 

[Cass]

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Off to another long day at the pharm. Its a holiday weekend so everyone will be in to refill their meds they ran out of last week and could you just call the dr for a refill because I really need it what do you mean they arent there but I need it now because I am going away........I love my job. I really do. Just not on holiday weekends.

In defense of those who wait til last minute for refills....there is a lot of undiagnosed dementia out there. LOL

(AND the darn insurance company demands we wait til 5- 7 days before we run out....we fill our pill box and only remember we need a refill when we go to refill pill box when we are packing to go out of town. IF we could call for refill when we notice it is empty and not be told "That is not eligable for refill at this time" we wouldn't make your life so miserable on holiday weekends. Seriously.)

 

[Sally8]

I need advice on what rooster I should order. I'm getting a mixed flock ( 15 ) blue laced wyandotte, buff Orpington, speckled Sussex and Dominique hens. I know I will probably get a male out of my order but feel I should order a male. What will be the best kind???

Just a comment. I had a Black Copper Marans over my hens and would let babies hatch. Pretty much all the babies turned out to look like him no matter the breed of the hen. (dark) Also, hopefully this doesn't happen to everyone, but every time I ordered chicks, supposedly pullets, there would be a cockerel in the bunch.

 

[kimmerjo]

I think I'm going to order a buff Orpington rooster and a blue laced wyandotte rooster. I will probably end up with a unexpected male but my sister already said she would take it. I think Dominique roosters are beautiful but heard they are aggressive....

Just a comment.  I had a Black Copper Marans over my hens and would let babies hatch.  Pretty much all the babies turned out to look like him no matter the breed of the hen. (dark)  Also, hopefully this doesn't happen to everyone, but every time I ordered chicks, supposedly pullets, there would be a cockerel in the bunch.

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Cass--dementia doesnt begin to cover it! We have drugs for that, not for stupid! lol Dont get me started about insurances....

Kimmerjo--roosters have individual personalities and any breed can have aggressive strains in it. I had a silkie roo who would flog me and jump me every chance he got but the ones I have now I can do anything I want to and they just go with it. I've had mutt roos who were nasty (freezer camp fodder) and some who were okay for a while. I now have heritage breed rir roos that I am waiting to see how they are. All chickens have individual personalities and the potential to be aggressive. Dont believe everything you read or hear. I have some laying hens who are aggressive to the other hens and to me sometimes. Canning jar camp is coming soon. Rancher swears by Delawares. Might be a consideration for you.

More storms forecast for today. Guess I better prep before I leave. Be safe, drink lots (water I mean) and be well.

 

[Sally8]

I hatched out a bunch of chicks this spring but 5 hens had their own ideas so we have a couple doz chicks again divided between 5 hens. I lost 5 due to various reasons. 2 drowned, 1 in the big hens pool (didn't think he could even get out)1 in the heavy down pour flash flood we had. The other 3 were killed by 1 hen and other hens by letting them do their own thing (at different times) I have learned heaps this year that isn't learned in a book. I could just watch them all day.